Tales From the Four Tribes
by vannahfanfics
Summary: A collection of oneshots from the Avatar fandom. DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters presented in these stories, aside from my OCs. Those rights belong exclusively to their creators. My requests are currently: OPEN
1. Foreword

Hello everyone! Welcome to my oneshot collection for Avatar, _Tales from the Four Tribes! _It includes a variety of stories, from passionate romances to tales of friendship, and I hope everyone enjoys reading them as much as I enjoy writing them. If you have migrated here from _Cuddle Corner, _thank you for sticking with me; if you are new, welcome and enjoy what I have here! In either case, happy reading!

I do take prompts/pairing and story requests (in fact, I love them, so please feel free to request!). However, there are a couple of guidelines to keep in mind:

If a prompt is submitted, I do not guarantee that I will agree to write it. If I feel uncomfortable at the prompt or otherwise feel like I do not possess enough information to adequately complete the prompt, it is my right to politely refuse to take the prompt. If the prompt is from a series that I have not read/seen, it is likely that I will place the prompt on hold until I have done so. If the prompt is from an anime filler arc, I may refuse or require a short explanation of the filler arc to provide me with enough detail to complete the prompt. Please respect my choice as an author to refuse prompts.

Most of the stories I write are male/female, mostly because this is what I am comfortable writing. However, if you wish to suggest a female/female or male/male prompt, please feel free to do so. I don't discriminate against such pairings and will most likely write them if requested, it is just unlikely that I will do so spontaneously. Again, please respect my decision as the author to refuse to write a pairing if I cannot draw appropriate inspiration.

Finally, this is _not _a place for smut. I respect people who read and/or write it, but I am not one of those people, so please do not request anything that is NSFW. Other than NSFW, there are two other things to keep I mind. _I do not romanticize cheating_. So if I feel your request involves something of this nature, I will politely refuse. I have been hassled about this before, so please don't press me on it. Secondly, _I am sensitive about large age gaps between characters_. These will be taken on a case-by-case basis and depends on the age of the characters as well as their relationship. I am particularly iffy concerning student-teacher relationships, and those will most likely be refused. Of course, everyone is entitled to their preferences and I will never harass you or judge you if you request something of this nature. All I ask is that if I refuse, you take is gracefully, and don't get upset if I happen to write another pairing with an age gap because the circumstances are most likely radically different. I promise you that I have my reasons.

Below is also a list of my other oneshot collections. Please do stop by if any of them pique your interest! Is there a fandom you love not represented? Please recommend it to me! I love new things to read.

The Bonds that We Hold Dear _(Naruto)_

Tales of Connected Souls _(Bleach)_

Love on the High Seas _(One Piece)_

Equivalent Exchange: My Life for Yours _(Fullmetal Alchemist)_

Love Burning Bright _(Blue Exorcist)_

Tales of the Dawning Sun _(Yona of the Dawn)_

Love on a Fairy's Wing _(Fairy Tail)_

Tales of Resonating Souls _(Soul Eater)_

Tales from Ouran High _(Ouran High School Host Club)_

One Sky, One Destiny _(Kingdom Hearts)_

Tales from Edo _(Gintama)_

Tales of Scattered Realms _(Final Fantasy Franchise)_

Tales of the Zodiac _(Fruits Basket)_

Tales of Heroes and Villains_ (My Hero Academia)_

Tales of Sinners and Saints _(The Seven Deadly Sins)_

Memories of the World Between_ (Noragami)_

Tales of the Mafia _(Katekyo Hitman Reborn!) _


	2. Index

**Chapter 1**: Goodnight_ (Zuko/Katara)_

**Chapter 2:** Lullaby_ (Zuko/Katara)_


	3. Goodnight

Category: Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Characters: Zuko and Katara

This prompt was taken from the prompt blog on Tumblr, hellsdemonictrinity! Please check them out!

"Well. This sucks," Zuko summarized eloquently as he and the rest of the Avatar's party stood outside the abandoned shack that would be their home for the night. Since they had entered Zuko's ancestral home, the Fire Nation, they had been flitting from one desolate area to the next, sleeping in dank caves and run-down abodes to prevent the soldiers from taking notice of their presence. This pathetic cabin was probably the worst one yet; it had become overgrown with weeds and vines, reclaimed by the nearby forest. It must have been abandoned for decades, because a tall, leafy tree grew right through the middle, bursting through the roof and spreading its branches over the pitiful structure. Still, they did not have the luxury of finding another locale to stay, as the sky had already grown dark around them and the air cold.

Aang, of course, was beaming broadly.

"Look at that tree, you guys! I think it's great," the hopelessly optimistic boy announced before scuttling over to his oversized, fluffy bison. "Sorry, buddy. You'll have to sleep outside. Look, there's a nice big tree over there that should be good," the airbender told the animal as he rubbed its snout affectionately. The bison roared in response, and Zuko scowled and waved a hand in front of his face, able to smell the beast's abominable breath even from several yards away. The air bison rose and shook its shaggy bulk before lumbering over to the aforementioned tree, a centuries-old sentinel not far off. It was so huge that _its _branches competed with the little tree rising out of the shack, blotting out the starry sky with its massive leaves.

"Appreciating nature?" came a quip over Zuko's shoulder, and he glanced back to see Sokka smirking at him.

"I was just looking," Zuko huffed and turned on his heel to stomp over to his things. Sokka was pretty impressive, for a non-bender, and probably the one he got along with best aside from Aang, but the pathetic state of their temporary home was enough to put him in a foul mood- and that meant that he was _not _going to suffer whatever joke or jibe that was about to come out of Sokka's mouth. Sighing as he resigned himself to the dismal situation, the scorned prince hefted his bag onto his shoulder and proceeded to the cabin. He pushed the door open, and it creaked loudly in protest before promptly falling right off its hinges. "You've got to be kidding," he groaned.

"Better than sleeping outside," Katara shrugged as she shouldered past him, her head held high. He blushed slightly as her arm rubbed against his, but she seemed not to take notice. Though she cared little for him, he liked Katara a lot. She was determined and proud- sometimes a little too much- and capable. Plus, she was pretty. He watched her as she marched across the dusty wooden floor and primly arranged her sleeping bag on the floor, appreciating the way her body moved and her hair flowed. He must have been staring for quite a while, because he received a rough shove from behind.

"Move it!" Toph cried as she plowed her foot into his back, leaving an impression of her foot in dust on the back of his shirt. As he attempted to brush it off, glaring at the blind girl, she just shuffled past him and spread her blankets on the floor before promptly flopping face-down into them. Still, it was enough to pull him out of his stupor, and he realized that everyone had pretty much settled into the building aside from him. He walked over to the only open spot left, and glanced up at the roof to find it completely open to the sky. _If it rains, I'm pretty much screwed, _he thought with distaste. His friends realized the predicament he was in, too.

"Hey, Zuko! You can come squeeze in over here!" Aang offered and patted the spot between him and Katara. There was barely enough room to fit a runt his size, let alone someone of Zuko's build; thankfully, Katara did not voice her displeasure, but sniffed and rolled over to curl up into the blankets. Still, the idea of being in such close quarters with the girl made him blush, and he shook his head in denial.

"No. I'm fine," he huffed and situated himself into the little spot on the floor. He laid back, exhaling deeply as he rested his hands behind his head and glanced up through the hole in the roof. It _was _at least nice to be able to see the stars above, sparkling in the landscape of inky blackness, and that was enough to put him at ease. His companions settled into sleep around him, softly snoring, and Zuko stared up at the sky above, alone with his thoughts. He normally was the last one to fall asleep. Perhaps it was just his nature now; he was so guarded that he automatically listened for barely detectable footsteps approaching to ambush them, or the familiar rushing roar of firebending. It was strange. He had spent so long hunting the same individuals he now traveled with, intent to destroy them, and yet now he had no desire but to protect them.

Zuko wasn't sure when he fell asleep, but he awoke with a start to the wail of the wind and booming thunder. He jerked up to realize that his clothes were soaking wet as rain poured in thick sheets from the hole in the roof above him. He hastily scrambled away, pressing himself to the wall where a thin section of roof could still protect him from most of the rain, but whenever the wind blew it would spray him with the cold droplets. Shivering slightly, he wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to keep warm. The cabin illuminated as bright lightning flashed overhead, spilling blinding white light into the little house, but his friends were still fast asleep, unaware of the disturbance. Zuko cursed his rotten luck, shuddering, and contemplated the measure of his pride. Then, very quietly, he stood up and snuck along the wall to where Aang and Katara lay sleeping. He stood over them, longingly eyeing the small square of space there. He would rather cram in anywhere else, with Toph or Sokka even, but the two left no space between them as they lay spread-eagled, their arms and legs kicked out of their blankets. Zuko jerked as he softly sneezed, and that was enough to force him to wriggle his way between the two. Aang muttered something about cabbages and rolled over, snickering in his sleep, and Zuko stared hard at Katara with his heart in his throat, praying she would not wake.

She didn't; she just slept peacefully on, and he relaxed slightly. He gazed at her as she slept, admiring the way her soft brown hair fell over her face and her side rose and fell. Unable to stop himself, he reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair from her face, and then froze as she suddenly mumbled and shifted.

_Did I wake her? _He thought in panic and prepared to jump up lest she wake up and yell at him, but he breathed a small sigh of relief when she just curled up tighter into the blankets. He was about to just call it and attempt to fall back asleep again when she abruptly spoke.

"Zuko…" she murmured, and his eyes widened as he stared open-mouthed. She was still dead asleep, with no idea that he was laying there, but yet she had whispered his name. He didn't know what it meant. She was probably just dreaming about pummeling him in some sort of scenario or another; still, it made him happy.

"Goodnight, Katara," he smiled as he gently pulled the blanket up to her shoulder, and then he curled up, even deigning to scoot a little closer to her. His clothes were drenched and cold, but for some reason, he felt warm.

* * *

"_Zuko!"_

The prince jerked at the severity of the voice calling his name, and when he did, it felt like a dagger pierced his head. Groaning, he rolled onto his back and cradled his pounding head, squinting as he struggled to adjust to the bright light of the morning. His vision focused to allow him to discern Katara standing over him, red-faced with her hands on her hips. "What are you doing? I thought you were sleeping _over there," _she huffed and pointed at the little section where he was laying before. The wood was still soaked with rainwater, but the girl was probably so flustered she hadn't even considered it.

"It rained," he groaned and moved to sit up, and then hissed when his head flared with fiery pain once more. He flopped back, his entire body feeling heavy and sore, like he had been crushed by a massive boulder. _What's wrong with me? _He thought weakly, rolling onto his side and groaning again. Everything hurt, and as he pulled a hand back he noticed that he was shaking violently. Katara, taking notice of his obvious distress, gasped and crouched down next to him. Her hand felt cool as she pressed it to his forehead, sliding it under his messy black hair that was drenched with sweat.

"You're burning up with fever. Sokka! Sokka, get up! Give me that blanket!" she screeched as she unceremoniously yanked her brother out of his bed by his foot to retrieve the blanket he was sleeping on. He cried out and blurted some nonsense before sitting up, his hair falling over his face.

"Katara! Not cool!" he whined, but his sister was shuffling back across the cabin, sitting on her knees beside Zuko to wrap him in the blanket. As it brushed against his skin, it irritated him, feeling like a thousand needles were pricking him, and he moaned and threw them off, rolling on his other side.

"Zuko! You need to stay warm," Katara insisted and wrapped him in the blanket once more, and he was too weak to try and fight her off. Shivering so hard that his teeth chattered, he curled up in the blanket, gripping it tightly in his hands as he squirmed in discomfort. He didn't even care about his pride, how weak he must have looked; he was just in agony, and it was all that he could think about. He cried out and clutched his head as the sound of rapid footsteps on the wooden floor felt like someone was beating his head with a hammer.

"Stop… That noise…" he groaned, his voice low.

"Cut it out!" Katara hissed at Aang, who had come to see what the commotion was about. He leaned down over the sick firebender, his big blue eyes even bigger and wider. "It rained last night. Zuko must have gotten sick because he slept in wet clothes!" Katara explained as she took a strip of fabric and poured some of the water she carried around onto it. She set it on his forehead, gently, and he exhaled sharply as the cool water seemed to chase away some of the pain.

"Oh, man. We can't leave until he gets better," Aang frowned deeply.

"He's very sick. He needs medicine," Katara sighed as she kneeled beside him. He couldn't help but smile slightly at the worried expression on her face. _She cares._

"There's a town near here. I'll take Appa and see if I can get some," the Avatar nodded and ran out of the cabin, grabbing Sokka by the back of the shirt on his way. "Come on, Sokka!" The young man cried out in alarm and clutched at his throat as his shirt was wrenched back, and he squirmed and voiced protests as he was dragged out of the cabin by the airbender. Zuko heard the rush of air as Appa took off into the sky, and suddenly, it was quiet. It unnerved him, making him think only about how much pain he was in, and he pressed a hand to the floor to try to sit up. "No! You're sick and you need to rest," Katara insisted as she grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to lay on his back on the floor. Panting, he stared up at her with lidded eyes.

"Katara?" he asked weakly. He was thinking clearly now, or maybe he wasn't.

"Yes?" she asked wearily, and he frowned. She sounded like she was tired of him.

"Do you hate me?" he whispered. Of everyone in the group, he wanted her acceptance most of all. He thought they had come to an understanding when he had helped her hunt down the man who had murdered her mother, but she still treated him coldly sometimes, and he wasn't sure if that had been enough. He gritted his teeth slightly as he forced his hand out of the blanket to reach out and grasp hers, and part of him was afraid she would recoil. She didn't, just looked down at their clasped hands with a complicated expression. She looked back at him, and she was smiling slightly.

"No, Zuko. I don't hate you," she answered, but he wasn't sure if she was just telling him that just to make him feel better.

"Really?" he pressed, and his eyes widened slightly as she suddenly leaned forward, drawing her face close. His heart began pounding, but all he could do was stare as she leaned down over him and gently pressed her lips to his. It felt nice, _really _nice, but all Zuko had the strength to do was close his eyes and move his lips gently with her own. He was sad when she pulled back, and her chestnut hair fell over his face as she smirked down at him.

"Really," she laughed as she tucked the strands of hair behind her air. She reached down, gently sweeping away the hair slicked to his face with sweat.

"You'll catch my cold," he responded dumbly, but he couldn't stop the smile from forming on his lips. His head flopped back against the wooden floor as he felt his head swimming, and Katara's form began to shift in and out of focus. She continued running her fingers through his dark hair, and it reassured him as his mind swayed under the assault of the fever. _Katara… Doesn't hate me… _he thought in relief as his eyes began drifting shut.

"Goodnight, Zuko."


	4. Lullaby

Category: Mild Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Characters: Zuko, Katara

This prompt was taken from the prompt blog on Tumblr, hellsdemonictrinity! Please check them out!

Zuko was stretched out on his back on the thin blanket, the only thing that separated him from the harsh, unforgiving earth. Being constructed of a chain of islands, much of the terrain was rocky and mountainous, and this little island was no exception; still, despite the choppy, unsteadiness of the rock, plenty of life still stubbornly planted its roots and made a home here. This particular island on which they had stopped to give Appa a much-needed rest was one of particular lushness, smothered by a thick forest from the edges of the shore to the tip of the small mountain peak at the center. Zuko found it oddly inspiring; despite torturous circumstances, the plants and creatures that called the island home still found a way to thrive. _If they can, I can too, _he thought with a small smile as he slipped his hands behind his head and cast his gaze up to the blanket of green above his head. Despite the thick canopy, the starlight still poked through in some places to beam down and illuminate the forest floor in isolated spears of light. Everywhere he looked, it seemed, something was defying the odds.

Though he would never admit it to the rest of the Avatar's group, Zuko entered this introspective mindset almost every night. Having spent most of his life, even before he was banished, high-strung and stressed, sleep often evaded him, and all there was to do when he could not sleep was think. It was quite early in the evening, and rest of the party was still awake and chatting around the small campfire that Zuko had made to warm the night. He only half-listened to their conversation, content instead to let his dark eyes sweep across the carpet of green above his head. Over the years, Zuko had found that he didn't have the answers to a lot of questions, and that the world was a large, large place. At first, he had been bitter and spiteful, insisting that he would not let the world get the best of him; he would make it smaller, searching every corner until he found what he wanted. As he grew up and came to realize some things, it instead morphed into a comforting thing. No matter what he did, the world and time kept marching on, ever-changing yet remaining the same; Zuko now liked to think that he was that way, still the same person but growing better as time went on. His eyes half-lidded as he stared upwards, he was too lost in thoughts such as these to see the shoe that came flying at his head.

"Ow! What was that for?" he snapped as it smacked him in the temple, sending a sharp, shooting pain across his face and scalp while the projectile flopped limply into the grass. He sat up briskly, holding the side of his head tenderly while he glared at the most likely culprit, Sokka.

"You were so quiet over there I wanted to make sure you weren't dead," he shrugged. The cooked leg of some animal flopped in his hands as he turned them upwards, and then he brought it to his mouth to tear a piece off with all the grace of a carnivore. "Besides, dinner is ready."

"If that's what you wanted to tell me, you could've just said so instead of throwing _this_ at me," Zuko grumbled back as he picked up the shoe and stood up to walk over to the campfire. He tossed it over to Sokka, who was too busy devouring his meat to notice, and the shoe bonked him lightly on the head; it was as good as revenge as Zuko was going to get. As the firebender sat down and plucked a leg off what he had determined to be a rabbit-squirrel, he noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Katara?"

"She went to take a bath. She's gotta keep that hair of hers nice and luscious, y'know," Toph answered as she took a piece of a thigh in her teeth and shook her head wildly like a dog to rip it off. Zuko had only been traveling with Aang and the others for a short while, and some of their quirks still unnerved him; though the others paid no mind, Toph's borderline animalism made him gulp slightly, and he discreetly edged away from her.

"Well, she'd better hurry or she's gonna miss out on some of this delicious meat!" Sokka grunted as he leaned forward to take another one of the smoked carcasses off a stick and continue to satiate his inner carnivore. Judging from the pile of bones already next to him, he wasn't nearly done. Zuko chewed quietly on the food. It was plain, and a bit tough, but honestly, he would take it over food from the palace any day. Out here, in the wilderness, he didn't have a threat against his life or absurd expectations looming over his head… and he had people to share it with, people he would daresay call his friends. He grimaced slightly as Toph released a loud, gurgling burp.

He was getting there, anyway.

The group polished off most of the caught rabbits, and Katara still had not returned. The rest of them seemed unconcerned, brushing it off as her long beauty routine, but Zuko could not help but worry. They _were _in enemy territory, after all. After a few minutes of twitching nervously next to the fire while the others lounged about rubbing their full bellies, Zuko abruptly stood up and looked out into the darkness.

"I'm gonna go check on her."

"Be my guest, but don't say I didn't tell ya so when you get a face-full of ice water," Sokka shrugged as he picked at his teeth with a sharp bone. Zuko ignored him to instead plod off into the woods, taking a small footpath to trek down the small incline of land. The island was not uninhabited, as land was not abundant in the Fire Nation and its inhabitants crammed themselves everywhere possible, so even the remote places they stopped to rest showed evidence of human activity. They were currently camped in the rocky clefts about a sub-mountain village, about halfway up the summit, close to where the river spilled down across the land to eventually join the sea. Zuko walked down the dirt path, slowly worn over time by many feet. Occasionally it branched off to snake away into the forest, and in one instance the forest abruptly broke on one side to reveal a ramshackle, rotten cabin and a crumbling stone well. He wondered why the people had abandoned the mountain heights to congregate at the mountain's roots below, but he could glean no answer from the chirping crickets, singing nightbirds, and rustling leaves' voices.

As the incline steepened, the space between the trees began to grow larger and more of the moonlight spilled across the forest, shining like puddles of milk against the loamy soil. The ferns and grasses turned silver under its luminescence. As he continued downward, the nighttime sounds of the forest were joined by the unmistakable quibbling of running water, and as he looked up with slightly narrowed eyes, he could see the faint glittering of the river at the slope of the hill. Zuko tromped down the remainder of the path to arrive at the forest's edge, but instead of continuing out into the light, he paused to huddle in the shadows.

Katara's voice drifted along with the splashing water, and he struggled for a moment to differentiate its tune from the babbling river; as he focused, he realized with widening eyes that the waterbender was actually _singing, _and quite beautifully, too. He crept as close as he dared to the edge of the trees, crouching behind a thick, leafy bush and pulling a branch down as he searched the shore of the river for the woman making such lovely sounds. His eyes scanned the glistening, water-slicked rocks until they found what they were searching for; there she was, sitting in the shallows on her knees while she twisted her thick brown hair around her hand to wring the water out of it. The way it caught the moonlight made it look like it was threaded with strands of diamond, and her normally tan complexion had lightened to a whitish-cream color under the forceful assault of the white rays streaming down from the starry sky above. When the light played over her, revealing her bare back, Zuko came unto the mortifying realization that she was still very much bathing, and he hurried turned around to stare back into the woods with his heart pounding. Whether it was seeing Katara in such a way or the acute fear that she would pound him into dust if she found him there, he wasn't sure. He knew he ought to scramble back up the mountainside since he had ultimately confirmed that she was fine and there was no need to linger unless he wanted an untimely death, but he just couldn't pull away from her angelic voice drifting along the breeze.

She was singing about the moon, as far as he could tell. As her voice traveled from resonating high notes to gentle low notes, Zuko found himself relaxing, despite his instincts screaming he should flee lest he become prey to the bear that was an angry Katara. The melody was obviously some sort of lullaby, and it was like Katara was weaving magic into it; Zuko almost felt like he was asleep already and dreaming. Katara didn't care for him, really, and he did his best not to incite further hatred of him; thus, he kept his distance and only admired her from afar. He _did_ admire her. She was strong, and resilient, and capable. He had never really thought much about her being pretty or anything like that, but as the image of her glowing under the stars with the flickering water playing over her burned in his recent memory and she sang the hymn to the sky above, Zuko could not deny that he thought she was beautiful.

Sitting behind the bush, huddled in the dark while she on the other side basked in the light, Zuko felt for the first time that she was something he was forever barred and unworthy of.

Her voice hitched suddenly with a gasp and she fell silent with a startled splash, and entranced with her voice still echoing in his eardrums, Zuko took a moment to realize that she had stopped singing at all. The river seemed louder than before, too. Once he did, though, his curiosity overcame his common sense and he turned around to peer through the bushes again, and his heart jumped into his throat.

The water seemed louder because Katara was frantically splashing backwards into deeper water while a pack of wolves converged on the shoreline, their massive, fluffy tails wagging as they bounded along the foaming white edge and scampered about to avoid Katara's waterbending attacks. Zuko poised to move, then froze as a soft growling and the faint rustling of leaves came from behind him. He leaped out of the bush just as a large wolf burst from the foliage, its jaws snapping at the place where he had just been; he landed on his hands in a back-hand spring, and his arms burst with fire as he shot balls of flames at the massive creature. It barked and retreated as the ground beneath its paws sizzled with heat, and as Zuko landed amongst the rest of the predators, he spun his leg around to send a wall of flame licking at their thick fur. Zuko backed up against the shoreline while the wolves pranced about, snapping at him and whining to each other, while he singed the snout of any of them that dared to get too close. It was quite evident that the pack of wolves had run the island's inhabitants down the mountain, as they were obviously not shy of targeting humans.

"Zuko! What are you doing here?! How long have you been standing over there?" he heard Katara bark behind him, and he slouched in bitterness as she splashed him from head to toe with voluminous water. His mouth twitched as he pulled his sopping bangs out of his eyes.

"A 'thank you' would be _nice_, Katara!" he snapped over his shoulder at her, and then she screamed for him to duck and he instinctively obeyed, falling into a backbend with his arms in the water. The wolf that had been vying for his throat leaped over him and landed in the river, only for Katara to send him flying back into the trees with a blast of ice. She was holding a hand over her chest as she glared at him from deeper water, and even with the moonlight's trickery he could tell her cheeks were bright red. Zuko turned an identical shade and hastily straightened up lest he see too much and sign his death certificate.

The wolves were beginning to realize that they had bitten off more than they could chew, as they now circled the two benders but dared not approach lest they wanted to taste Zuko's flames or Katara's ice. After a few more harrowing minutes of repaying their bravery with stinging pain, the wolves decided to give up the assault and bounded off into the woods. Zuko watched them run off, staying in the water for a few minutes before exhaling deeply and sloshing forward to begin wringing out his clothes. "Jeez, now I'm cold," he muttered and began pulling off his shirt. He didn't feel like expending the energy to dry himself with firebending. He cried out as Katara once again doused him in water, and he whipped around with his shirt still hallway off his head. "_What_?!"

"Don't take off your shirt, I'm still here!" she barked at him hotly, then flushed again and tried to cover more of her chest. The water level thankfully covered everything else that needed to be.

"Put one on yourself!" he snapped back and ignored her, wrestling out of the drenched fabric to fling it onto the damp rocks and continue marching up the shore. He knew better than to get out of his pants in front of her, and tried to ignore them sticking uncomfortably to his legs.

"You're in my way! Duh! And what, you're gonna take it off anyway?!"

"I don't wanna catch a cold!" he yelled back at her, bristling as he hopped around on one foot to pull of his shoe. As he did and he flung it down the shore, he had to resist looking at her while they argued. "If you hadn't soaked me like this, it wouldn't be a problem!" He yelled while snatching her dress off a branch and stiffly holding it out with his back turned. He heard her splashing vigorously through the water before her footsteps fell onto the stones, and she swiftly wrenched her clothing out of his hand.

"If you hadn't been peeping, I wouldn't have soaked you!"

"I wasn't _peeping_!" he protested immediately, so distraught that he turned around again. She was dressed this time, thankfully. She glared at him with her arms crossed and her face alight with fire that rivaled his bending, and he realized she was waiting for an explanation. He blushed and looked away stiffly while he grumpily added, "I came down to check on you and heard you singing." He expected her to have a fiery retort, but as his gaze slid back to her, he found that her angry expression had melted to one of confusion and mild embarrassment.

"Y-you did?"

"Yeah. It was… really something," he answered vaguely. She would never let him live it down if he called it all the things he wanted to- beautiful, divine, angelic, goddess-like… She blushed again and looked down, clasping her hands behind her back as she turned from side to side slightly. She was giving him a small smile, which made him stiffen because she _never _smiled at him.

"It was a lullaby my mom used to sing to me," she answered with a small tilt of her head and a saddening expression. Zuko didn't know much about Katara because she didn't tell him anything, but he had gathered enough to know that her mother was dead at the hands of the Fire Nation. It was a large part of the reason she didn't like him all that much, as well as his crusade against Aang. Uncomfortable because "comfort" was not in his skills inventory, he flushed and awkwardly scratched his head.

"Oh. Uh. It's a good one. Made me sleepy." She looked at him incredulously for a second, and then he was convinced the whole thing must have been some lucid dream because she laughed- like, really laughed, holding a hand to her mouth as she held her stomach and her entire body shook. Zuko watched her have her giggle fit with wide eyes and a blank expression, unsure how to respond. She finally caught her breath after a moment and looked up at him with tears glistening in the corners of her blue eyes.

"You're the one who's something, Zuko."

"Is that a compliment or an insult? I'm not sure," he stuttered honestly. She was still smiling at him as she straightened up, but he knew that especially with women a smile could veil murderous intent.

"Don't worry, it's a compliment." _That's it, I'm definitely asleep, _he reasoned and promptly smacked himself in the cheek. "What are you doing?!"

"Trying to wake myself up."

"This is _real life_, Zuko!"

"Really?" he blinked at her, completely baffled. _Could she really be serious about all of this?_ He then smiled awkwardly, trying to ignore the stinging in his cheek as he looked down at her shyly. "Uh, thanks, then?"

"Why did you want to listen to my lullaby so much?" she asked suddenly, and he looked away, honestly not sure. It had been more than just her voice and the image of her in the water; he definitely couldn't tell her _that_, he would die for sure and if he miraculously survived he would at least lose all the headway he had made in winning her favor. He scratched his head as he wracked his mind, searching for a reason to give the girl, until he brought a distant memory to the surface of his mind.

"It reminded me… Of a lullaby my mom used to sing."

"How's it go?" she asked innocently, and he immediately back-pedaled while waving his arms.

"Oh, no, don't ask me that. I can't sing." That was the wrong thing to say, because she sneered playfully at him and leaned forward, a challenging expression on her face.

"_Oh?_ The big, bad Fire Prince is afraid to sing? My, my, how interesting. I can't _wait_ to tell the others."

"_Katara-!_ Ugh, fine, but you'd better not make fun of me," he muttered before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes while he dragged the lyrics of the lullaby from the recesses of his mind. Uncertainly, quietly, he sang the tune, while in his mind he could see his mother leaning over him while she ran her fingers softly through his dark locks. It had been something he had buried, and something he realized he now sorely missed. When he opened his eyes again, he was appalled to find tears rolling down his cheek, and he hastily turned his back while wiping at his eyes. "Th-there, that's how it goes, you happy?" he grumbled, trying to play it off. Katara did not comment for a second, and he cautiously peered over his shoulder to see if she was going to jab at him again. She was instead smiling sweetly.

"That's a nice one, too- and you know, your voice isn't half-bad."

"You're just saying that," he sighed as he turned back to her, wearily. "Don't tell the other guys, okay? I won't hear the end of it from Toph and Sokka." She giggled, and now that he listened to it, he really liked the sound of her laugh.

"Promise, as long as you do the same. The rest of them don't know about me, either." Something about knowing something about her that no one else did excited Zuko and brought a smile to his face. She was trusting him with her secret, and that was pretty big, given that up until now he had been pretty convinced that there was nothing he could do to win her trust. As he looked back down at her, he found her shyly twisting back and forth again, her gaze averted from his. "… You're not that bad, you know." Her admitting it out loud practically floored him, and since he had no tree to grab onto and support himself, he slumped like a deflated balloon in relief.

"Glad you're finally realizing it… I'm trying pretty hard, you know." It was next to impossible to reverse-psychology himself out of all the terrible behaviors he had developed because of the torture his father put him through. He had his eyes closed as he basked in the glory of the moment, but they shot open when she suddenly swept her fingers through the damp strands of his dark hair.

"I know," she smiled, and the softness in that smile shot through him like an arrow to his heart. _She… really means it. _"I'm sorry about they way I've been to you up until now… We all have our flaws, Zuko," she said with a chuckle at her own expense. She was still curling her fingers through his hair, having to stand on her toes since he was much taller than her, and Zuko's nerves were going insane with how good it felt. Katara didn't even seem to realize that she was still doing it, instead staring at him with this mysterious glimmer in her blue eyes. A pink haze drifted to his cheeks. Something about that gaze of hers both excited and unsettled him. He just stared back at her, unsure of what the proper thing to do was, and then she did something even more unexpected- she leaned forward to gently kiss him on the cheek. It was a quick peck, but nevertheless had a lot of feeling, and he felt the warmth of her lips still lingering on his cold skin even after she had pulled back to give him that smile again. "Thanks for saving me… But next time you want to hear me sing, just ask," she laughed airily before her hand slipped out of his hair and she turned to begin scurrying up the path. She left Zuko standing there, his mouth hanging open and his cheeks red.

Women were hard to figure out, but Zuko was pretty sure that Katara like him or something.

He slapped himself one more time to make sure that he was in fact awake, and when he didn't awaken from the apparent dream, he pulled his still-wet shirt back on and slowly followed Katara up the mountain. Progress was progress, though it had taken unexpected form.

By the time he had made it up the mountain to the camp, they had all settled in for the night. Zuko stepped over Sokka's body, which was nothing more than a tangle of limbs in a poor excuse for a blanket, to return to his humble little patch of island. As he pulled his blanket closer to the dying fire, pausing to ignite the embers once again before stretching out beside it to coax the last of the water from his clothes and body lest he awaken ill, he pushed himself up on his elbows to peer over the crackling flames at Katara, who was asleep between her brother and Aang.

Well, not really asleep, because she was softly humming the lullaby that Zuko had sang to her. He smiled softly as he flopped down on his belly on the blanket, closing his eyes. As his ears drank in the snapping of the small flames and Katara's voice as his lullaby, Zuko drifted into the best sleep he had had in a long, long time.


End file.
